Voltage
by The Bear Who Writes
Summary: Following the disappointment of a lost football game, Tess is walking home when a single bolt of lightning changes her life forever. My interpretation of Sky Volt's story. (I did not invent any of the cheers in this fanfiction. The Thunderbirds details are based off of SUU's game day cheers.)
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One: Homecoming

Fourth quarter. Three minutes left. The score was 7 to 35. Rain clouds inundated the sky above the field, and thunder crashed in the distance every few seconds. The rain was cold. It was games like this that made me question why I chose to be a cheerleader.

Our coach called a time out, and AC/DC's "Thunderstruck" echoed over the speakers. Instantly, the student section of the bleachers erupted. Every few lines, when the singer would say "thunder" the Summit View High School fans would respond by saying "birds!" When the first verse started, the school mascot, an eagle sporting a green and white football uniform ran up and down the hundred meter line of the track waving a giant Thunderbirds flag. Soon, he ditched the flag and was handing out high fives to various fans. I never understood why Garrison could be such an attention hog on Fridays and spend the rest of the week hiding behind his camera. As the timeout ended, the football players ran back onto the field.

The band played a rendition of the Pirates of the Caribbean theme song and we cheerleaders continued to offer chants of useless encouragement. There was only a minute left. We were toast. With a final count down, the game was over. What a way to start the season. The football team would find a way to blame it on the weather.

"You sure you don't want a ride home?" Kelly said before pulling out of the school parking lot.

"I'm not afraid of a little rain," I smiled, twirling around with my palms turned towards the clouds like I was five years old again.

Kelly laughed, "If you say so. Be careful. Call me if you need anything."

"I won't," I said.

"I know."

She rolled up her car window and I waved as she drove away.

I've always loved the rain. Something about the cleanliness of the air as it washes away the dust. The fact that it was almost ten o clock at night didn't bother me either. Even though it was dark, the moon was bright and lit my way. My house was only a half of a mile past what was going to be a cul de sac. The contractors had invested in a ton of acres to develop a neighborhood of model citizen homes, but then the market crashed and nobody really wanted to move, so the idea crashed before it could ever lift off the runway.

The wind picked up, giving me goosebumps from my already drenched blonde hair. I shivered. Turning to look over my shoulder, I saw a shadow following me. Deciding to pick up my pace, I started to jog. This, of course, only added to the coldness.

"Wait!"

I stopped when I recognized the shadow's voice. The eagle head had probably been left at the school, so the rest of the mascot's costume made his shoulders three times the size of his head.

"What are you doing out here?" I called over the rain.

"No one should have to walk home alone in the middle of a rainstorm," Garrison said.

I smiled. His lived on the opposite side of town.

"And I kinda want to catch a shot of lightning."

Suddenly, the rain became torrential. I started to sprint. I couldn't see where I was going. I almost slipped once or twice. The sound of thunder became closer and closer until CLASH! I felt an electric force hit my back. I slipped and fell forward as my head felt clouded and my arms scintillated.

"Hang on!" I heard Garrison yell. He sounded distant. Like an echo through the Grand Canyon. I looked around a moment later and he was gone.

I felt light headed. I should have died. The next thing I remember was the clock tower. I had never seen the building before, but somehow I found myself ascending its steps. As I climbed the metal staircase, my head throbbed as though I had suffered from some sort of concussion. I heard stories about people getting hit by lightning. This was different. I cupped my hands, and the electricity continued to dance around them. I found my phone in the pocket of my bag. I unzipped the bag, but as I picked up my phone, a second shock made the phone short circuit and instantly die.

"What's happening to me?" I yelled, dropping my phone as my hands erupted in bolts of static electricity.

I fell to my knees and sobbed, each tear encased in a cocoon of electricity.

Then, everything went black.


	2. Chapter 2

I woke up the next morning to the sun shining in from the clock tower's face.

I felt weak. My stomach growled and I remembered that I hadn't eaten anything since an early dinner the night before. I pulled myself to my feet and instantly, I became light headed. Something wasn't right.

I can't really remember anything until I walked through the door. My mom was on her cell phone with the police in the front room.

Kicking off my sneakers I stepped onto the carpet. I had no clue how to talk to my mother when she was this worried. I should have waited until she saw that I was home. Instead, I walked to the chair she was sitting in and gave her a hug around the shoulders, using her head as a headrest. Dropping the phone, mom burst into tears, holding me close. With no words to fully explain my feelings, I started crying too.

Dad ran through the kitchen door and paused in shock. I turned to greet him.

"Where were you and why didn't you call me? Your father and I were worried sick about you." mom said through her tears.

"I got hit by lightning," the words were barely believable even for me.

"Are you alright? We need to take you to the hospital."

"I'm okay," I said, "I just have a really bad headache."

"Why don't you go lie down," my mom said, "I'll make you some breakfast and then you can relax."

I reached into my bag for my phone. The screen had cracked and many of the wires were visible. It looked like I had run over it with a semi. Mom's face went white. I explained what had happened last night when I accidentally killed my phone.

I could no longer withhold my tears. My dad held me close, stroking my hair as I sobbed into his shoulder. Every third or fourth tear contained a tiny bolt of electricity. I was not hurt by them though I feared my dad would be. This realization only made me more upset.

"It's okay," mom said, joining the moment by gently placing a hand on my shoulder.

"No it's not!" I yelled into my dad's shoulder, "It's not okay. I can't even cry without hurting anyone."

I broke away from my parents and ran up the stairs into my bedroom with all the angst of the seventeen-year-old I was. This kind of garbage didn't happen to girls like me. This shouldn't have been possible. All I wanted was to go and hang out with my friends at homecoming like every other kid at my high school.

Just then, the doorbell rang. My heart fell into my stomach as I noticed the time. 10:00. I heard my dad tell Josh that I had a rough night last night and that I was still feeling under the weather today. My date's response sounded understanding though I knew he must have been disappointed.

I couldn't sleep. There was too much to worry about. Staring out my window, I watched the sky turn a cotton candy pink as the sun began to set. I watched moms taking pictures of their daughters in their yards as many of my peers were heading off to homecoming. I should have called Josh and apologized. I broke out a piece of notebook paper and a pen and started to write.

Josh,

I owe you an apology. Sorry I didn't call or text you.

I crumpled the paper and threw it in the trash can by my desk. Ripping out another notebook page, I decided to try to write again.

Josh,

Let me explain. I was struck by lightning on Friday night, and I felt awful on Saturday.

I ripped up the paper into a million pieces of confetti. How was he going to believe that even if it was the truth?

I heard a knock at the door. Thinking fast, I found some snow gloves in my closet and slipped them onto my hand before turning the metal door knob. My mom was standing in the doorway holding the home phone with the receiver to her shoulder.

"It's Garrison."

Awkwardly, I took the phone with my heavily gloved hand and lifted it to my ear. When I remembered that the phone was plastic, I removed the gloves and held it normally.

"Hello?"

"Hey Tess"

"Hi"

"You okay?" he asked.

"I've been better," I said, "Why aren't you at the dance?"

"They had a local photographer take pictures."

"That's rough," I said.

"Well, there's always senior pictures I guess."

The sound of his voice was exactly what I needed. We talked for an hour until his family called him for dinner.

"Well, I've gotta go," he said, "Do you think you'll be to school Monday?"

"I don't know yet," I said.

"I hope so," I could hear him smiling through the phone.

"Thanks for calling." I said.

"See you Monday."

"See ya."


	3. Chapter 3

"Tess!" Kelly shouted from across the hall, "Are you okay? Josh told us you weren't feeling good on Saturday."

"It's kinda hard to explain." I tried not to lie.

"Was it the bug that's been going around? I've heard it's just a twenty-four-hour thing."

"It's not really a flu. I've just felt like my energy has been zapped since Friday. Sorry, I should have said something to you guys."

I got to my locker, grateful my dad let me borrow his leather gloves.

"Are you cold?"

"No, why?"

"What's with the gloves?"

I noticed the clock on the wall.

"I can't explain. I've got to get to Choir."

"When are you going to be back at cheer?"

Walking away I yelled back "I'm not sure."

"Red leather yellow leather read leather yellow leather read leather yellow leather red."

The tune stepped up a half step.

"Red leather yellow leather red leather yellow leather red leather yellow leather red."

At least the lightning hadn't done anything to hurt my voice.

I noticed a light in the corner of the choir room that was flickering. I heard people behind me complain about how the spazzy light was bugging their eyes. Once I decided I was going to die inside if someone didn't solve this problem, I walked over to the light switch, took off one of my gloves and zapped the metal of the switch with my hand. Having seen enough superhero movies, I thought that the light would be zapped just enough that everything would go back to normal. Instead, all the lights in the room became blindingly bright before suddenly shattering into a million pieces.

Everyone screamed, covering their heads with their arms and hiding under the rows of chairs. The room darkened, and after the last light shattered, everyone erupted in scared chattering.. Students from the other classrooms wandered out into the hall and reported that those lights had also been shattered. No one else dared move. I was grateful I hadn't worn sandals that day.

"Can we go home?" one of the altos asked.

"They have to send us home if they can't feed us lunch," one of the juniors answered.

I wanted to go home. If they kept us at school, I could honestly tell the office that I wasn't feeling well. Anxiety gripped my stomach and I thought that I was going to throw up. I wanted to cry, but I couldn't let anyone know I was the reason for everything.

"Tess?" another alto asked. "Are you alright?"

Tears fell out of my eyes and soaked my hands and the carpet. How could I put my fears into words? I shook my head. I was most definitely not alright. I couldn't tell anyone why. I wanted to go home and cry to my mom about my anxiety. There were few people I could trust with my secret.

"I just got a text from the office," our choir director said. "It's too dangerous to continue classes with the debris. Busses will be here soon. School is canceled until further notice."

Most of the choir members shouldered their backpacks and skipped out to their cars and went back home. I would have sprinted out of the room, but my nerves were so shot that I could hardly walk. A migraine beat the inside of my brain to a pulp. Thank goodness most of the choir had gone. I probably looked like I was having an emotional breakdown.

"Tess?" Dr. Milford said, "Are you okay?"

I shook my head. My poor choir director looked like he was struggling to know how to solve the problem. Luckily Garrison was still in the room and noticed my panic. He found a water bottle in his backpack and forced me to drink. After a minute or two, my migraine was starting to go away and my hands weren't as bad.

"I'll be okay. I just need to go home."

Milford nodded though his brow was still furrowed with concern. He looked at Garrison and both shared an unspoken agreement.

"I can just walk," I said. "I'll be okay."

"I'll walk with you," Garrison said. "Fresh air never harmed anyone."

I was too tired to think, let alone argue.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

I hadn't walked home since the accident. As I passed the piece of sidewalk where I had been struck, I began to be a little light headed. A vivid flashback echoed in my mind. The memory was so real, I almost felt the bolt of lightning strike my shoulders again.

"Are you okay?" Garrison asked.

A chill raised the hair on the back of my neck in spite of the early September weather.

"Fine," I said.

"I thought you were dead," he said. "When I came back with the EMT's, none of us could believe you were gone. No one has ever recovered that fast from being struck by lightning."

"If you can call this recovered," I snorted. My hands were shaking as though I hadn't eaten anything in days. Tiny stints of electricity ran around my fingers. I folded my arms, hoping Garrison hadn't noticed anything unusual.

"You should have needed intensive care. I don't understand."

"I guess I'm just invincible," I laughed as my voice shook nervously. The thought was funny at first, but then my light headedness became all the worse when I considered the possibility.

Garrison laughed, pretending not to notice my weird behavior.

"I think I caught a picture of the lightning," he smiled like a first grader telling his mom about an art project.

"Really?" I asked. "Is it any good?"

"I deleted the picture off my memory card after I copied it onto my computer. I'm thinking about entering it into the school's art show next week. I need to edit you out of the shot first though. Mr. Johnson probably wouldn't think a person being hit by lightning would be school appropriate. I think there's enough substance to the shot to cut the lower half out. I doubt anyone would notice."

He kept talking. I stopped listening. My head reeled. I felt like a zombie. Who was I kidding? I _was_ a zombie. I hadn't slept or eaten much in the past few days; I was shivering from the trauma of recent events; I had to concentrate on every step in order to not fall down. I felt like Frankenstein's monster. I couldn't even find the energy to laugh at the mental image I had in my mind of my hair standing on end and bolts sticking out of my neck as I slinked along the school cafeteria muttering words unintelligible to the sane mind. I had never before been so tired. Tears of fatigue escaped my eyes and left residues of salt on my face. I swiped at them, hoping Garrison wouldn't notice.

He stopped walking. He didn't say another word. Instead, he wrapped his arms around me and I rested my head on his shoulder. I cried, and tears laced with tiny bolts of lightning rolled down my face, soaking his shoulder. He didn't even flinch. Instead, he rested his chin on my head and stood there in silence.

"I'm so sorry," I sobbed in words he probably couldn't understand because they were muffled in sobs. "These past few days have been _so_ _stressful_ and I…I just don't know how I'm going to handle everything that's going on all at the same time."

He said nothing. Instead, he released me from our hug. I wasn't ready for that moment to be over, and I considered complaining when his left arm scooped me off of the ground, his right arm supporting my back.

"You dork!" I shrieked, suddenly regaining strength enough to scream, "Put me down! What if someone sees you?"

"I am starving!" he said, "I haven't eaten anything since six o'clock this morning, and you weren't walking fast enough!"


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5:  
͞What happened?͟ My mom asked Garrison as he set me down on the couch and covered me  
with a blanket.  
͞I'm fine,͟ I said. ͞There was just an accident with the lights at school.͟  
Her face turned grave. ͞Garrison. Thank you so much for walking Tess home, but I think it's best  
if Tess rests for the rest of the day.͟  
Garrison nodded. ͞See you around, Tess.͟  
͞Thanks Garrison,͟ I said.  
͞Any time.͟  
͞Does Garrison know?͟ mom asked once the  
I shook my head. ͞Should he?͟  
Mom stood there for a second. ͞I don't know. He seems like a good kid. He's been there for  
you through all of this. It might be nice to have someone you could trust at school. You're sixteen, hon,  
I'll let you make this one.͟  
͞I'll have to think about it.͟  
͞So, what happened at school?͟ she asked. ͞Are you hurt?͟  
͞I was trying to fix the lights and stressed out the circuit. All the school's lights exploded.͟  
She looked closer at my face with a frown of concern, checking for broken glass.  
͞I'm still listening!͟ she called as she ran to the bathroom and returned with a wet washcloth,  
Neosporin, and a box of Band-Aids.  
͞What's wrong with me, Mom?͟ my tears stung the cuts mom started to clean.  
She stopped to hold me close.

͞Absolutely nothing!͟ she said. ͞You're still the cute fun-loving girl we raised. Now, we just have  
a puzzle piece that's not fitting right.͟  
͞Great,͟ I laughed bitterly, ͞now I'm broken.͟  
͞No, honey,͟ mom said, stroking my hair. ͞you're not broken. Was Spiderman broken because  
he got bitten by a radioactive spider?͟  
I laughed through my tears. ͞I guess not.͟  
͞No, Tess,͟ Mom said. ͞You're not broken. This is just your spider bite.͟  
We sat there for a moment as I thought of her motherly advice. I hoped she was right. She  
usually was about stuff like this. She saw something in me I couldn't see in myself.

When my dad got home that night, my mom and I were sitting in the family room, binge  
watching the Avenger movies in order. We were now watching the Black Panther.  
͞Wakanda forever!͟ Dad yelled as he walked through the door.  
He dropped his brief case next to the armrest and plopped down next to me on the couch.  
͞How was school?͟ he asked me.  
͞A nightmare.͟ I said quietly.  
He wrapped an arm around my shoulder. ͞Do you want to stay home tomorrow?͟  
͞School's been cancelled until they clean up the glass.͟  
Dad didn't know what to say. Words of affirmation wasn't his love language. I hugged him  
back. We were going to figure this out. For now, watching Netflix with my family was exactly what I 


End file.
